Thanks, That Was Fun
by pari106
Summary: Title taken from the song "Thanks, That Was Fun" by the Barenaked Ladies. "Thanks that was fun...made a deal, not to feel...God, that was dumb..." Someone leaves Seattle.


"That Was Fun"  
by pari106  
  
pari106@hotmail.com ; http://www.geocities.com/pari106/damain.html /   
http://www.geocities.com/pari106/alecasha.html ; Disclaimer: DA is not mine, "Thanks,   
That Was Fun" is by the "Barenaked Ladies"; Rating: PG-13 ; Timeframe: end of Season   
2, sometime after "She Ain't Heavy". AU? (I haven't seen LATR). Max and Logan are   
back together.; Code: Alec/Asha  
  
Summary: Asha leaves Seattle.   
  
"Remembering the big good-byes…yeah, that's tough. Regretting the big good-byes you   
never got…that's a bitch."  
- ?  
  
"Thanks, that was fun  
Don't forget:  
no regrets  
'Cept maybe one:  
made a deal  
not to feel  
God, that was dumb…"  
- "Thanks, That Was Fun", the Barenaked Ladies  
  
  
  
"That Was Fun"  
by pari106  
  
  
  
So that was it. She was gone. Just like that. For good.  
  
Alec threw his pack into his locker at Jam Pony a little more forcefully than necessary.  
  
"Yeah, right," he muttered to himself, with mocking humor twisting his smile.  
  
'You know the first time good ol' Logan whistles she'll come running back,' he thought   
to himself snidely.  
  
It helped to be snide. It helped to be mocking. It helped to act like an asshole who didn't   
give a damn one way or the other. Because he'd seen the look in Asha's eyes when Max   
and Logan had reconciled. He knew she was leaving and she wasn't coming back, not   
even for Logan. Especially not for Logan.   
  
And certainly not for him.  
  
And maybe if he acted like he didn't give a damn, he could really start to believe it.  
  
"Could've said goodbye, though," he found himself muttering anyhow.  
  
'Yeah, that was gonna happen,' Alec scoffed at himself. 'After the way you blew her   
off.' He'd had to find out she was leaving Seattle from Logan.   
  
//I'm thinking  
that I'm aching   
mistaking  
lust for love…//  
  
What did he care anyhow? It's not like there'd been anything between them. A little   
awkward conversation, now and then…one awkward night at his place where nothing   
happened…   
  
Alec closed his locker door and stared at it for a moment. Then…for no reason he could   
explain at all…he planted his fist right in the middle of it.  
  
  
  
//Thanks, that was fun  
Don't forget:  
no regrets  
'Cept maybe one:  
that I scared you  
when I dared you…//  
  
So this was it. She was leaving. For good. All she had to do was step up on the bus and   
take her seat.  
  
Funny how reluctant she was to take that step.  
  
Asha realized she was procrastinating. Waiting? For what…a send-off? Asha rolled her   
eyes and ignored the single tear that fell as she did. She staunchly refused to take a look   
around the terminal when the urge arose. Then she boarded the bus.   
  
There was no one to send her off. She and Logan had already said their good-byes…if   
you could call them that. Maybe he just really didn't believe she was leaving   
permanently. Maybe she didn't quite believe it herself.  
  
Or maybe Logan just wasn't the type for big good-byes. Romantic as he was. He   
certainly wasn't the type to follow her out to the bus station, stand on the corner and   
wave as her bus pulled away… Not hers, anyhow.  
  
//I stared you in the eye  
and told you goodbye  
you mocked me  
it shocked me  
when you walked me to the bus…//  
  
Was that what she'd wanted? Some big scene? To prove she was worth one to him?  
  
Asha laughed as she dropped onto a bench. But the lady on the row over gave her a   
strange look, so she didn't do it again. Asha's laugh wasn't a very pleasant sound at the   
moment. So she turned her eyes to the window beside her and wished it was controlled   
laughter making her bite her lip and not something else.  
  
Nah, she hadn't wanted a scene. It was too late for them for that. But it would have been   
nice to have someone make a scene over her. Though, who, she couldn't imagine.   
  
Max?  
  
This time, when Asha laughed, it was a real laugh. "Oh, yeah, that'd be rich," she   
mumbled. That's *exactly* who she needed to see right now…Max.   
  
Alec?  
  
Asha didn't know where the thought came from, but she knew it hadn't come with   
permission. Alec wasn't someone she thought about very often. Well…  
  
That was a lie. A *big* lie. But Alec wasn't someone she *wanted* to think about often.  
  
'Get over it, Asha," she found herself thinking in disgust.  
  
Alec had made it very clear he didn't want her thinking about him, either.   
  
'I'm sure exchanging sappy farewells with me is right at the top of his "to do" list today,'   
Asha continued, sarcastically.  
  
So why was she? Thinking about him, that is.  
  
'We weren't even anything to think about,' she scoffed at herself. 'We weren't even   
friends, really.'  
  
So why did that thought make her even more depressed?  
  
  
  
//Thanks, that was fun  
Don't forget:  
no regrets…//  
  
  
  
Absolutely no regrets.   
  
Was he sorry she was leaving? Of course not. Good for her. After all, she was just   
doing what he'd told her to, right? Not that she was leaving for him, either… But he'd   
told her that if she was smart she'd stay away. Right? So did he actually *regret* not   
getting to tell her goodbye?  
  
Why the hell would he do that?  
  
There was nothing to regret. 'Cause Asha *was* smart. Smart to just leave and not look   
back, not cause a scene… There was nothing to cause a scene about anyhow. It's not   
like there'd been anything between them…  
  
And why the fuck was he repeating that?  
  
  
  
Absolutely no regrets.  
  
Was she sorry she hadn't gone to tell him goodbye before she left? Of course not. What   
good would it have done? He'd just have told her to beat it like he had the last time   
they'd talked. That had been their problem in the first place – she'd known he wasn't   
ready for any sort of relationship with anyone. But she'd gone back to his place anyhow.   
She'd pushed him, teasing him at the bar about his whole "Baby-I-want-you" "speech";   
telling him he was just scared. He was. And she'd scared him even worse. She'd scared   
him off. And wait…  
  
What the hell was she blaming *herself* for? It wasn't her fault the boy had issues,   
right?  
  
  
  
//made a deal  
not to feel  
God, that's dumb  
Everybody knows the deal fell through  
I was hoping I could just blame you…//  
  
  
  
It wasn't his fault he had issues. Manticore was what had him so fucked up. He was just   
trying not to involve anyone else in his fucked up life; he was just trying to protect Asha   
by keeping her away. If she couldn't understand that, Alec wasn't the one to blame. He   
was being the good guy. He'd done the right thing; he was doing the right thing…  
  
And what the *fuck* was wrong with that goddamned lock, anyhow?  
  
Alec gave the chain another sharp yank and considered just pulling the damned thing   
apart and being done with it. But that would draw attention to himself from the people   
loitering outside the apartment building where he'd made his last run.  
  
Not that he wasn't already doing that by cussing out his bike in five different   
languages…  
  
"Forgot your combination?" came the sudden question.  
  
Alec stopped trying to free his bicycle from the post he'd chained it to before taking in   
his last package, and clenched his jaw. Oh, great… That was *exactly* who he needed   
to see right now… Max.  
  
Max knew she'd been right to seek Alec out when he didn't even answer. Alec wasn't   
Alec unless he was running off at the mouth.  
  
"Here, let me," she said finally, brushing past him. She didn't wait for a response to yank   
the bike chain out of Alec's hands and start working the code.  
  
The lock came apart in her hands.  
  
Alec just stared at it. Then he tugged his bike away from the post, gathering up the chain.   
  
"Thanks."  
  
Max ignored the grumbled word, and grabbed Alec's arm before he could shoulder past   
her.   
  
"Alec, wait."  
  
"What can I do for you, Max?" Alec asked with a sigh, in that tone of voice Max always   
secretly thought of as his 'trying-to-piss-Max-off' tone.   
  
She wasn't pissed off, though. She and Alec were…cool now. She figured they were   
past the 'bait and bitch' stage of their relationship. Not that she wouldn't still smack him   
in his fool head when she had to… But she was worried about him right now. And now   
that she felt okay saying so, she felt okay doing something about it, too.  
  
"Actually, I thought I could do you a solid right about now," she said.  
  
"Oh, really," Alec said back, raising an eyebrow and crossing his arms. Max tried not to   
roll her eyes. His mannerisms were way too predictable to her at this point. He was   
practically screaming 'Somethin's-bugging-me-and-I-don't-want-anyone-to-know-about-  
it'. "Like what?" he asked.  
  
"Like reminding you that Asha's bus doesn't pull out of the station for another…oh, half   
an hour, I think."  
  
Alec's poker face faltered just a bit…for just a moment. Then it disappeared.   
  
//When was it that I became so soft  
this sentimentality  
doesn't look good on me…//  
  
"What're you getting at, Max," Alec sighed.  
  
"You know exactly what I'm getting at, Alec. Go and tell her good-bye. You know you   
want to."  
  
"Asha knows where to reach me. She could have come and said good-bye if she'd   
wanted to," he reasoned. It was lame reasoning and he knew it.  
  
"I'm not talking about what Asha wants," Max countered.  
  
'Yeah you are,' Alec thought. Asha definitely didn't want him screwing up the nice   
clean break she was making. Even if she didn't know it. But Alec didn't say that.   
Instead:  
  
"What's the point? It's not like she was my girlfriend or something."  
  
Max put her hands on her hips. "And whose fault is that?" she charged. Alec frowned,   
but before he could say anything, Max continued. "And don't give me that "we-don't-  
belong-with-them" speech again, you know I'm not buying it."  
  
"You did once."  
  
Max blinked. "Yeah," she said, voice tight. "And I broke up with Logan thinking like   
that. Look where that got us." Right back where they were – together, though not really   
together. But with one more heartbreak under their belts because of the brief time they'd   
spent totally apart.   
  
Alec shifted his pack on his shoulder and shifted his eyes over Max's shoulder. He   
couldn't really argue with that. He'd seen what Max and Logan had gone through during   
the breakup. So he didn't want to say so, but he still stood behind what he'd said about   
X5s being dangerous to humans.   
  
"I did the right thing," Alec found himself saying before he realized it. He'd surprised   
himself just a bit. He'd meant to say something witty and brush off Max's suggestion   
altogether.  
  
"Yeah, that's why you're so thrilled that Asha's leaving," Max drawled sarcastically.   
Her eyes were sympathetic, though.  
  
Alec frowned. "Doing the right thing isn't always fun, Max."  
  
"And being happy isn't always wrong, Alec," Max insisted forcefully. Alec blinked.   
Then Max sighed for once.  
  
"And I'll tell you what isn't fun. Spending the rest of you life wondering if you really   
did do the right thing…or just the easy thing." Like she would have wondered if she'd   
stayed broken up with Logan. Like she would always wonder about Zack.  
  
Alec stared at her.   
  
  
  
//deflated  
and jaded  
I hate it  
when you call  
  
Which isn't at all…//  
  
  
  
'I don't know what the hell I'm doing here. I should have taken an earlier bus; I could   
have been gone by now. What the hell was I waiting for?'  
  
  
  
'I don't know what the hell I'm doing here. Her bus is probably gone by now. And what   
the hell do I say if I do see her? We had an understanding, right? That night at Crash?   
She wasn't sorry nothing had happened between us. I wasn't sorry nothing had happened   
between us…'  
  
  
  
//…don't forget:  
no regrets  
'Cept maybe one  
made a deal  
not to feel  
God, that was dumb…//  
  
  
  
She was just about ready to leave. It wasn't time… Actually, it was a little past time.   
The driver was late, or something. Asha watched as he and his boss argued just outside   
the bus.   
  
The delay was probably why he made it there in time. Alec.  
  
Asha just happened to look over, away from the driver and the angry, little man yelling at   
him… And saw Alec. He was standing there on the corner.  
  
Asha didn't know that mouths could really hang open in surprise, but hers suddenly was   
as Alec approached her window. And she thought he could probably time her pulse just   
by looking at her… Because her heart suddenly felt like it was pounding in her throat.  
  
  
  
//I've spoken  
though broken,   
here's a token   
of my love…//  
  
  
  
"I…uh, just came to say good-bye." Awkward. That was the word for it: awkward. He   
fucking hated awkward. So he smiled. "And, you know, keep your head down, take   
care, the usual." He shrugged.  
  
Nothing about this was "usual". And he felt like an idiot.  
  
Until Asha smiled… When she did, Alec wondered why he hadn't tried to make her   
smile more often. God, she had a beautiful smile.   
  
So where had his gone? Alec forgot to smile. For a moment he thought he'd forgotten   
how to breathe.   
  
Oh, yeah…that was why.  
  
"Good-bye?" Asha repeated. She stared at him a moment. And she meant to say   
"Thanks." What came out was:  
  
"Wow."  
  
They both laughed.  
  
"Hey, I am capable of civilized conversation now and then." Despite their last encounter   
at Crash.  
  
God, that was dumb. But it had seemed like a good idea at the time.   
  
"Sorry I'm a little late," Alec told Asha. The driver was taking his seat.  
  
And they both stared at him a moment, realizing that time was up.   
  
Alec swallowed and looked back at Asha's face as she turned to him. She smiled,   
slightly softer now.  
  
"That's okay…You weren't too late."  
  
Then they just stared at one another.  
  
Until the driver began shouting instructions to the passengers, ready to close his door.  
  
That snapped them out of whatever it was they'd drifted into.  
  
Alec shifted on his feet. "So…good-bye." His eyes were totally sincere. And so was he.   
"I really hope you take care of yourself, Asha."  
  
"You, too," she returned softly.   
  
Then Alec turned to leave.  
  
"Alec?" Asha suddenly called.  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"You know…I'm leaving Seattle. Not the planet."  
  
Silence.  
  
Then Alec smiled.  
  
"You've got my number, right?"  
  
Asha laughed. "Yeah, I've got it."  
  
That was the last thing they said to one another. But Alec stood there and waited for her   
bus to leave.  
  
And he waved to her before it did.  
  
He didn't realize how much she'd needed that.  
  
But he suddenly realized how much he had.  
  
Max found him still standing there after Asha's bus was no longer visible.  
  
An uncomfortable silence surrounded him, and Max's features softened when she saw   
him, knowing what he must be going through, despite whatever else he said. Despite the   
fact that he and Asha really hadn't had anything going on between them. They both   
knew that they could have. And sometimes that was so much worse.  
  
Max slipped her arm around Alec's waist.  
  
"See…that was much more fun than doing the right thing, wasn't it?" she teased, quietly.  
  
Alec just smirked. But finally he threw an arm around her shoulders.  
  
"Thanks, Max."  
  
Then they walked away.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
A/N: Maybe this is way too sappy... Maybe it's stupid. I don't know. Please, pretty please review! ;P 


End file.
